New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: The Ministry of Education (MoE) has recommended seven states, including Odisha, to adopt a common board for Class X and XII after an analysis by the Centre flagged that these states accounted for 66 per cent of student failures last year, officials said. Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Kerala, Manipur, Telangana and West Bengal are the other six states. There are a total of 66 school examination boards in the country, three national-level boards and 63 state-level boards. While the top 33 boards cover 97 per cent of students, the remaining 33 boards cover just 3 per cent of students. “Common board for Class X and XII is the way forward for ease of schooling. Not having a common board leads to poor academic outcomes. We have recommended these states adopt a common board,” School Education Secretary Sanjay Kumar said. A total of 22.17 lakh students failed Class X, and 20.16 lakh failed Class XII across the country in 2024. While the numbers have improved over the decade, officials say they remain a significant barrier to better retention and transition to higher education. “Role of National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) in these states became important to engage the unsuccessful students in education. NIOS’s present prominence around Delhi, Rajasthan and Haryana (where there are least failure rates) needs to be expanded to other states. Standardisation of assessment process, curriculums, paper setting, elevation (to the next class), and exam span also needs attention of boards,” Kumar said. The analysis pointed out that open school boards performed poorly, with only 54 per cent of Class X and 57 per cent of Class XII students passing.
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